Saddle-tree



i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NOBLE ninas,V or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SADDLE-TREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,5l4, dated April Application filed November 23,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NOBLE TEAs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Harness-Saddles, fully described and represented in the following speci# iication and the accom panying drawings, torm-V ing a part of the same.

My in'ventionrelates to an improvement in harness-saddles; e and it consists in the special construction hereinl shown and claimed for cheapening the-,construction and finishing of the saddle and for the attachment of the stift'- ener.

. The improvement whereby the finishing of the saddle is facilitated consists in the combination, with the sdeiianges, of a block of metal formed under the seat at each end, the screw for the water-hook passing through the front block and the seat-screw passing through the rear block, the two blocks forming, in connection with a sunken bridge at the center ofthe Atree, a continuous depressed ridge or strip on the underside of the tree. By this construction and by the arrangement of the side flanges ot' the tree ilush with the upper side the ilap can be sewed to the jockey apart from the tree, (in the cheaper grades of saddles,) and then shoved up on the flanges ot' the tree until its ends strike the blocks provided for that purpose. When the tongue of the ap is nailed to the tree with clinch-nails in the usual manner the abutting ofthe block against the ends .of the flap makes the same very stift' and firm and the whole construction cheap and durable when the terrets are screwed in.

The construction of the blocks and the other y improvements claimed will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings,in which- Figure l is an oblique view of the tree. Fig. 2 is a section of the same on line x w in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the tree; Fig. 4, a top View, Fig. 5 a top view, andvFig. 6 an edge view, of the stiffener; Fig. 7, a section of the top of tree through the center of seat-screw; Fig. S, a section at top through the middle of the sunken bridge; Fig. 9, a perspective view of the lower side of the tree 5 Fig. 10, an edge view, and Fig. 11 a bottom view, of the seat, showing the standing ribs for leather cover.

cutting it down any, as is usual.

A Ais the main plate or top flange of the tree,

stiffened by longitudinal ribs B upon the under side and cut away upon the top beneath the seat G, so as to make plenty of room for the back-band to pass over the stinken bridge D. The ribs B are far enough apart to insert the back band between them; butthe top flange, A, extends over them at each side, so as to fit between the jockey and ap when the saddle is finished, their arrangement at the terret being shown in Fig. 2, where E is the jockey or-saddle-cover and F is the ap.

G and H are they front and rear blocks, cast beneath the projecting part of the ange A at each end ot' the sunken bridge, and forming with the latter a continuous ridge upon the* lower side of the arch, as shown in Fig. 9. The block G is provided with a little rib, a, at each edge to keep the foot of the rein-hook L in position, the latter being inserted beneath the tree, as shown in' Fig. 1. A square hole,

b, is formed through the block G for the bolt of the water-hook, and al hole, c, is formedV through the block H at the rear of the arch to receive the seat-screw; and the space above the slinken bridge Dis formed the entire width of the back'band, so that the latter can be passedthrough the arch of thetree without The band is therefore enabled to play back and fort-h to any desired extent, and the treeV adapted to many uses for which an expensive wooden tree is commonly employed.

In Fig. 7. the arrangement of the ilap and jockey is shown at the arch ot' the tree, the tlap being butted against the shoulders formed by the blocks G and H, as described above.

To secure an extended bea-ring upon the back of the horse, and to. fasten the stift'ener to the tree more iirmly and cheaply than here- By this method stil'eners of any thickness can be employed, and such strength imparted to the lower ends of the tree when required as to keep the saddle entirely above the withers of the horse.

The improved construction for the seat K consists in forming thelower side, at the rear in such seats as areleathercovered,with bearin g-ribs all about the margin where the patentleather bottom is secured to the top covering, to avoid the use of the wood-filling now required and used in leather-covered seats. I am aware that ribs are provided at some parts of the margin to support a metal back when such backs are used in place of leather, as in japanned seats; and I do not therefore claim ribs, broadly, but only the continuous rib, as shown atg in Fig. 11', when used in combination with a leather cover upon the Whole surface of the seat. The advantage of such construction is a saving of about seventy-tive cents per dozen seats.

An incidental advantage in the use of the block G under the tree-arch and the lowering of the foot ofthe reinfhook by securing it upon the lower side of such block consists in the space thus secured beneath the top surface of the seat for the roll ofthe pad,which is usually formed upon a piece of round bent cane, and the leather covering` of which is often chated en- -tirely through by the rubbing of the checkrein when the hook is located higher.

By these various improvements the coustructiou of the saddle is materially cheapened and its durability increased.

I am aware that a sunken bridge is not new and that a partial filling up of the space at the ends of the bridge has been made upon the under side of some trees, as in Patent No.

125,011, of 1572; but the purpose of such thickening was to allow a rabbet to be formed upon the upper side for the insertion ot' wooden mountings, and no provision has ever been made in such or any other case for the batting ofthe ap against a shoulder, as provided by my blocks. I do nottherefore claim the stinken bridge in itself, or the mere thickening of the arch at its ends, but the formation ot' shoulders for the flap to butt upon.

From the above description the nature and operation of my invention will be easily understood, and I therefore claim the same as follows:

1. In a harness-saddle, the combination of a tree provided with a sunken bridge, and having the blocks G and H, or either of them,

formed upon the lower side of the arch, as described, with a Hap secured to the jockey, as set forth, and butted against the shoulders formed by the said blocks, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The fastening for the stifener J, consisting of the lugs e, cast upon the lower ends of the tree and adapted to be clinched upon the Stiener, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Thecombination,inacastingfor aleathercovered seat, of the ribs g with the lower side of the cantle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NOBLE TEAS.

Witnesses:

Taos. S. CRANE, WM. F. D. CRANE. 

